The Meaning of Corgi

The generally accepted view is that the name is made up from
cor (dwarf) and ci (dog), the ci becoming
gi by normal mutation, thus Corgi, but according to
Clifford L.B. Hubbard the better interpretation is that of cur
dog or Cur which he traced back to some of the
earliest of dictionaries, Wyllam Salesbury's A Dictionary in
Englyshe and Welshe (London 1574), where there is a reference
to the Korgi ne gostoc, meaning "Corgi or curre dogge".
(At that time the use of the letter K rather than C was perfectly
proper).

Drawing of a Corgi from 1650

Hubbard decided to investigate the history of the word Corgi
while he still lived at Ponterwyd which is only 12.5 miles (20
km) from Aberystwyth where both the National Library of Wales and
the Dictionary Department of the Board of Celtic Studies are
found. By going through hundreds of books, newspapers and
periodicals, manuscripts etc., he found several very early
references to Corgwn, which by the way is the correct plural of
Corgi, not Corgwyn, Corgis or Corgies. However, Corgis, when
referring to several, is now the generally adopted form rather
than the correct plural which is pronounced as if it were written
Corg'n or how you would pronounce the word oxen as plural of ox.

Among the many references Hubbard came across was an M.A. thesis
from 1925 about the works of Gryffudd Hiraethog, one of the
foremost Welsh poets of the sixteenth century, which included a
notice of the striking bark of the Corgi dogs: Cyweirgyrn ynt
y corgwn (that is "These dogs are as tuning-keys for the
harp"). But what exactly does this mean? That the Corgi's bark
can be used as tuning fork for the harp or rather that the Corgis
are as indespensable for their owners as the tuning keys are for
the harpists?

The connection of the word Corgi with Cur appears to have
considerable historical support. As the popular conception of the
Cur is a mongrel, or crossbred dog at best, it is, of course, not
surprising that the diversion to dwarf dog took place, but
it must be understood that the term cur was not commonly
used in the derogatory sense when applied to dogs and it
generally indicated a working type of dog as opposed to the
sporting and luxury dog.

The ancient Welsh laws referred to three kinds of curs: the
Watch Cur, the Shepherd's Cur and the House Cur. The oldest
surviving references to British dogs working cattle are contained
in the Laws of Hywel Dda (Hywel or Howell the Good, c. 880-950).
It is interesting to find that in the legal references to the
Corgi he is termed a Cur. The Herdsman's or Shepherd's Cur,
besides having a legal value, was of considerable importance and
one of the laws lays down that "There are three indispensables to
the summer resident: a bothy; a herdsman's cur; and a knife".

These ancient laws were remarkably concise and intelligible in
their references to dogs and by law a value was placed upon each
breed, carefully worked out according to job of work, age and
degree of training. The worth of the Shepherd's or the Herdsman's
Cur was relatively high in comparison with the Watch Cur and the
House Cur and was of equal value to an ox if proved to be a
genuine herder or drover. Hence the Cur used with cattle (and
sheep) was legally recognized in Wales as a valuable breed of
dog. That the King's Greyhound was often of no higher value than
the Cur, is another indication that the Cur by no means was a
worthless tyke.

Synonyms
As is well known, the Corgi is a heeler that is one who
nips the heels of lagging cattle to hurry them on. When Corgis
were first exhibited in Wales they were often classified as
heelers at the agricultural shows and this name is the only
English synonym for the Corgi (exept for cur, which is a a
translation of the Welsh name).

The Welsh word for the noun heel is sawdl while the verb
to heel is sodli, and Welshmen have for centuries called
the Corgi Ci Sodli (plural Cwn Sodli).

There is one other name which is often loosely referred to when
writing or talking of the Corgi and this is Ci Llathed
(properly Ci Llathaid) which is made from ci (dog) and
llath or llathen (a yard or rod). By this yard is
meant the Welsh yard which is four inches longer than an English
yard, thus making forty inches. However, when a Welshman talks of
the Ci Llathaid he usually means the Cardiganshire Corgi, who
with his full-length tail can, and often does, make a reach of
one Welsh yard (101.60 cm)from the tip of the nose to the tip of
the tail.

In her book The Welsh Corgi Thelma Gray mentions that
Corgi could possibly be a contraction of Corlan Gi
(sheepfold dog), but since it was seldom that Corgis were used
for sheep herding, this theory seems not as probable as some
others.

The word Corgi is (or at least was) commonly used in South
Wales, not only to denote a breed of dog peculiar to those parts,
but much in the same way as the word "rascal" is used, though in
the playful and affectionate sense rather than as a term of
reproach. One dictionary defines Corgi as "a saucy dog - a cur".

The Welsh language is entirely phonetic and once the alphabet is
mastered, there is little difficulty in pronouncing the words,
but for the uninitiated it is almost impossible to figure out the
Welsh names in pedigrees. For some reason or another, the
breeders of Cardigan Corgis still seem to adhere more faithfully
to Welsh names for their dogs' pedigrees, while the Pembroke
breeders for the most part use more commonplace English names or
names in their respective language.